Congress To Celebrate Legal Booze (seriously)

Updated on: September 15, 2008 / 5:16 PM
/ The Politico

The House of Representatives had been slated to take up important work this afternoon: celebrating the legalization of booze. Passage of the resolution, though, is in question today, as one of its two sponsors, Rep. Howard Coble (R-N.C.), might not make it to town in time to take part in the biparisan celebration, an aide in the Democratic cloakroom says.

Co-sponsored by Michigan Democrat Bart Stupak, the resolution comes 75 years after the ratification of the 21st Amendment re-legalized alcohol. The resolution notes that "prior to the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, which established Prohibition in the United States, abuses and insufficient regulation resulted in irresponsible overconsumption of alcohol." The ban, though, "resulted in a dramatic increase in illegal activity, including unsafe black market alcohol production, organized crime, and noncompliance with alcohol laws."

The Crypt might quibble, though, with the resolution's assertion that the "the American system of state-based alcohol regulation has resulted in a marketplace with unprecedented choice, variety, and selection for consumers." This 'unprecedented choice,' at least, has yet to make it to The Crypt's neighborhood bars.

UPDATE: Coble is in town and ready to go forward, but a Judiciary Committee aide says that Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), ranking member of the committee, has concerns about the resolution and isn't ready to let it move just yet.